


Desert Rose

by spaceMaverick



Series: Killjoys 'Verse [7]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: ADHD, Angst, Autism, Backstory, Explicit Language, Families of Choice, Gen, Neurodiversity, Nonbinary Party Poison (Danger Days), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Schizophrenia, Sibling Love, Team as Family, The Fabulous Killjoys (Danger Days) Are Not MCR, Trans Fun Ghoul (Danger Days), Zones Culture and Customs (Fabulous Killjoys), who the hell is motorbaby. is she the girl or
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25949500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceMaverick/pseuds/spaceMaverick
Summary: A kid on their own heading their way couldn't be good. As they neared, Party could make out dark skin, coiled hair, and wide brown eyes. Their cheeks were wet like they’d been crying. The kid finally got close enough to stop in front of Party and catch their breath, hands on their knees."Is Fun Ghoul here?" They asked, still panting.
Relationships: Fun Ghoul & Jet Star & Kobra Kid & Motorbaby & Party Poison (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul & Jet Star & Kobra Kid & Party Poison (Danger Days)
Series: Killjoys 'Verse [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725742
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> time 2 start another multi-chapter fic that im not done with yet !!!!!!!! whatz wrong with me <3  
> for people that havent read my stuff before: i do not update anywhere near consistently. at this point my ao3 is just a place to publicly dump my ideas

The woman pushed up on her elbow and dragged herself out from under her hiding spot to reach out for the little girl in front of her. The sound of heavy boots on sand and screaming faded out in her focus. The girl fell to her knees to get closer, eyes wide and afraid.

“Baby, you need to get out of here,” she said, running a hand over her daughter’s hair and wiping a smear of dirt off of her face. “Go find the Diner. Ask for Fun Ghoul-” she was interrupted by a cough, one that racked her body and made her daughter flinch. “He’ll help you.” She grunted as her arm gave out underneath her. “Go! Save yourself, babygirl. I love you.” She watched the girl stand and pause, staring down at her with tears pouring down her cheeks, before turning around and running in the direction she knew the Diner was in.

_Witch, keep my baby safe,_ the woman prayed. She finally let herself collapse when her daughter ran out of sight.

Party stared out the front window, watching a breeze stir up pockets of sand and rustle the branches of trees. Doctor Death-Defying’s voice continued in the background with rapid-fire updates about a Drac patrol nearby, punctuated by exclamations from the rest of the crew as they listened. Party had taken a break from listening actively to calm themself down; they’d heard enough when Dr. D announced that the Dracs were attacking a group of families. Ghoul would tell them anything they needed to know when the broadcast was over.

The midday sun made everything hazy, and Party watched the heatwaves warp the area around the Trans Am. Something moved on the horizon in the corner of their eye, and they jerked their head around to find it again. Far in the distance, something small was moving towards the Diner.

“Hey, guys,” they called over their shoulder, “any a’ y’all see that?”

Kobra, sitting closest to the window Party was looking out of, craned his neck. He found the spot Party was staring at and nodded. "What is that? What is that?"

Jet stood and walked over, Ghoul close behind. "I think it's a person."

"If that's a person, it's a kid," Party said, pushing off of the window and running out the door. The person couldn't be much taller than four feet; it had to be a kid. They jumped up and waved their arm. "Hey! You okay?"

The person paused, then sped up. _Oh Witch, they're definitely a kid._ A kid on their own heading their way couldn't be good. As they neared, Party could make out dark skin, coiled hair, and wide brown eyes. Their cheeks were wet like they’d been crying. The kid finally got close enough to stop in front of Party and catch their breath, hands on their knees.

"Is Fun Ghoul here?" They asked, still panting.

Party startled. "Uh." They looked behind them and waved Ghoul over.

Looking understandably confused, Ghoul put a hand on his hip and looked down nervously at the kid in front of him. "What can I do ya for, kid?" His voice was tight, but his casual attitude remained.

The kid stopped rocking on their feet. "Dracs attacked my home. My momma sent me here to keep me safe."

Ghoul’s face fell. He looked at Party, who shrugged. They knew that their crew had become well-known, but this was definitely a first. Ghoul sighed and leaned down a bit to talk again.

"Let's get you inside then, it's hot out." He held out a hand, which the kid took hesitantly. "Are you injured?"

"Just my arm," they said, turning their arm over to show an abrasion. "It doesn't hurt," they added.

"We'll clean that up real quick; you'll be good as new." Ghoul said, leading the kid to the Diner. Party followed and shut the door behind them, moving to stand next to Kobra and listening to Ghoul explain to the others. Ghoul and Jet got to work with a small bandage around the kid’s arm. They sat quietly and watched Jet secure the wrap, face blank.

Jet checked the bandage once more and let go of the kid’s arm. “So, your mom sent you here?”

The kid gave a small nod. “She told me to find Fun Ghoul, and save m’self.” If they saw Ghoul stiffen beside them, they didn’t say anything, just blinked heavily and yawned.

“You’ve been through a lot,” Ghoul said. “You should rest, okay?”

“Okay,” the kid mumbled, letting Ghoul take their hand again and bring them to a booth. He grabbed a blanket from the shelf and laid it over them, before turning around and motioning for the crew to follow him into the kitchen. He hopped onto the counter and waited for Kobra to settle with his legs crossed on the floor. 

“So, her mom is definitely dead.”

“Yeah,” Party sighed. “Must be from the attack Dr. D was talking about.”

Kobra spoke rapid-fire, “So, what-do-we-do, what-do-we-do? What do we do with them?”

“They’re the authority on that,” Ghoul said. “But I think we should ask if they want to go back to their community, even if it’s just to see who’s still there. They didn’t say where they lived, did they, Party?”

Party shook their head. “Nope, just asked for you. Why is that, anyway? You have a reputation for helping kids?”

“Not that I know of,” Ghoul scoffed. “They said their mom sent them to me…”

“We can probably figure that out later,” Jet said. “But Ghoul, you think we should check their home?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ghoul said distractedly, “We’ll ask them when they wake up. Or tomorrow. Whenever. I’m gonna keep an eye on ‘em, okay? Y’all can do whatever.” He slid off the counter and trotted the few paces to the kid’s booth, taking a seat at the table next to it.

“He okay?” Kobra said, leaning back to lay on the floor so he could see Ghoul.

“Probably shaken up by the attack,” Jet replied. “Let’s just leave ‘em both alone; we’ll know what to do when the kid wakes up.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im gonna be real with u this ends on a cliffhanger bc im not done with the next scene

Turns out the kid really needed to sleep. Party would have believed it if someone told them they’d never slept once in their life. They watched them curl in on themself, and watched Ghoul sitting more still and silent than they’d ever seen him as he kept watching the kid. When they finally did wake up, it was with a confused noise followed by a short yelp when they caught sight of Ghoul sitting next to them. Ghoul jumped up, rattling off apologies that sounded genuine for once. The noise alerted Jet and Kobra, who stopped what they were doing on their own and looked over. Party tugged gently on Ghoul’s sleeve to shut him up.

“You sleep okay?” They asked. The kid nodded. “Cool. How’s your arm?”

“Fine.”

Party could see Ghoul practically vibrating in their peripheral. “So, we were talking yesterday, and Ghoul here said it would be best for us to visit your home; check n’ see who’s around, y’know?” When the kid didn’t say anything, they added, “That sound alright to you?”

They kicked their legs briefly. “Yeah.” Party wondered what they were thinking. They didn’t have much experience with kids- being raised with Kobra didn’t count and they kept to themself growing up, anyway- but they knew that this one was still processing what had happened to them. They hummed an affirmation and let Ghoul take over, sliding into the booth Kobra was sitting in.

“That kid’s fucked,” Kobra whispered. He narrowed his eyes in the way Party had learned meant he was rethinking what he’d said, before blurting out, “Traumatization station.”

“What?”

“Desert. Shit’s bad, bad, bad for kids.” He gestured to Ghoul, who was standing next to the kid’s booth and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

“Better than the City,” Party countered. They glanced at the exposed inside of Kobra’s arm, littered with scars from his childhood. “At least they can get real help for the shit that happens to ‘em.”

Kobra hummed, then slid down slightly and leaned against Party’s side. They both watched Ghoul talk quietly with the kid while Jet paced in and out of the kitchen, probably taking inventory to distract himself. Soon enough they’d be on their way to wherever the kid came from; Party could only hope against hope that their mother might still be alive.

Through the kid retracing their steps from Ghoul’s lap in the passenger seat of the Trans Am, Party was able to drive until silhouettes of shelters appeared in the distance. The kid perked up for the first time since they’d seen them and pointed towards the buildings.

“Right there!”

As they got closer to the settlement, Party could see how trashed the place was. Ghoul said the Dracs hadn't used any explosives, but it didn’t look much better. A wave of disgust washed over them at the sight of destroyed roofs and debris scattered across the desert floor. Kobra muttered something rhythmic under his breath, and Jet sighed heavily. Party slowed to a stop at the edge of the town, and Ghoul let the kid hop off his lap and jog towards one of the less damaged houses. They ducked their head in quickly and glanced around the surrounding area.

“You think anyone’s here?” Ghoul called. Party knew the Dracs had left; their mission was simply to do damage and instill fear, not stake out a random commune. But none of the killjoys knew if anyone had stayed behind. “If they’re hiding, they’re doin’ a damn good job of it,” they responded.

At that moment, a crash followed by the rattling of something rolling away and muffled swearing sounded to the right. Everyone whipped around, hands on their hostlers, and the kid darted behind a wall. Party found the object that had rolled- an empty coffee tin- and traced it’s path to a toppled pile of rubble. They straightened up and took a step forward, motioning for the others to follow.

“Considering there are no animals running around,” Party said clearly, “and coffee tins don’t go rolling on their own without a breeze, I can say pretty confidently that there are people here.” When no one responded, they sighed and continued. “Look, we’ve got a kid that says they’re from here. We just want to see if their mom’s alive. Can one a’ you come out and talk? We can be civil.”

A head of blonde-and-purple hair poked out from behind the rubble. Party took their hand off their holster. “You cool?” The head nodded, and the person stood slowly, stepping out into the open. Their hair was long, a little past their waist, with black stripes on the pieces that framed their face. They were wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and gray jeans, both dirtied and torn from what party guessed was the attack.

“You got a girl with you?” They asked, orange-and-pink painted eyes narrowed.

Party turned around.”You a girl?” The kid peeked out and nodded. ”Yeah, we got a girl. Says their mom sent ‘em to our diner.”

The sound of boots on sand made Party look behind them again. The girl had run out from their hiding place. “Talon?”

The blonde froze. _“Girlie?”_ They jerked forward, like they were about to run, but stopped again. Party and the others backed away slightly to let the girl meet Talon halfway. Talon scooped the girl up and spun around with a tearful laugh. “Oh, Destroya, we couldn’t find you anywhere, I was so scared they’d taken you or something-” They stopped to let the girl down and put a hand on their shoulder. “We haven’t been able to find your momma, Girlie. Either she got away, or… or she’s in the rubble.”

The girl looked down. “She told me to save myself... I didn’t wanna leave her, but-”

“Shh, you did the right thing. Your mom knew what she was doing.” Talon kneeled down to hug the girl. Feeling like they were intruding, Party shuffled closer to Kobra, who was already backing away towards Jet. Ghoul stood off to the side, arms crossed and staring at Talon.

“Swear to the Witch I’ve heard of you,” Ghoul said, making Talon look up. “You friends with a Joyride Dreams? Crow Runner?”

Talon looked up. “...You’re Fun Ghoul,” they breathed.

“Sure am,” Ghoul snarked. “Why’re people bringing me up these days?” He gestured to the girl, “Girlie said their mom sent them to _me.”_

Talon looked Ghoul in the eye, making him fidget. “Joyride Dreams was The Girl’s mother.”

Ghoul froze, visible eye wide. His hands gripped the edge of his shirt. “But Joyride- she was-” he shifted his stance wider. “She was just a kid! How does she have her _own_ fucking-”

“Ghoul, can we focus-” Jet said, pausing when Ghoul glared at him. He glared right back. “We’re trying to help the kid here!”

“But they’ve gotta be fuckin’ stupid wrong!” Ghoul snapped. As he yelled, his voice rose to a shrill wail. “Joyride is barely older than me! There’s no way she had a kid, and there’s _no way she’s dead!”_

Kobra grabbed Party’s hand. They looked over to see their brother with his face twisted in worry, tightening and loosening his grip on their hand. Party watched Jet flounder silently at the sudden show of emotion and cursed every higher power they could think of. Jet seemed to get an idea, which could go great or horribly wrong.

“Ghoul, who’s Joyride Dreams?”

Okay, so it was gonna go horribly wrong. _Dammit, Jet._

Ghoul started yelling outright. “She’s my fucking friend! She and Crow Runner lead my first crew! They- they were like my _parents!”_

“Enough already!” Talon barked. They pulled The Girl closer, nestling their hand in their hair. With a hard stare at Ghoul, they continued, “You’re out here yellin’ about someone’s mother. Have some compassion.” They gently pulled away from The Girl and stood up. “Joyride and Crow were my friends, too. They were everyone’s friends- Joyride rebuilt this community from the damn ground up.” 

Party looked between Talon’s dark expression and Ghoul’s nervous posture. They had yet to learn much about Ghoul’s childhood; they knew he’d been in one crew before meeting Jet, and that his own community had been bombed when he was eight. Everything else was more or less a mystery, but Ghoul’s behavior right now was telling enough of how he _felt_ about his first crew.

Talon spit their next words out like venom, and Party could practically feel Ghoul flinch. “I won’t let you stand there and deny that my friend is dead, just because you never bothered to find ‘em after you split.” The Girl was leaned against Talon’s leg, crying again and failing to hide it. Party stepped forward to get in between Ghoul and Talon.

“We’ve gotten off track,” they started. “I’m sorry about Fun Ghoul, he isn’t usually like this.” They ignored Ghoul’s muttered “Fuck you” and looked at The Girl. “I’m real sorry about your mom, she seemed like a smart lady. I hope we did some good, bringin’ you back here.”

“Thanks,” The Girl mumbled. They paused and seemed to think about something, before saying, “You should come back again… if you wanna. I feel bad for Ghoul-”

“Don’t worry about him. We’ll stay a little longer-” Party looked back to Talon- “if we’re welcome?”

Talon sighed. “Not my call. Stay if you want.” They shifted their feet and put their hands in their pockets. “I never introduced myself; I’m just Talon- no fancy killjoy names. She/her.”

Party smiled. “Party Poison, they/them.”

“I’m The Girl, she/her!” The Girl’s eyes were still red, but she had a bright smile on her face that made Party’s heart melt. “What about the rest of you?” She asked.

“That’s my brother, Kobra Kid. He/him,” Party said, pointing to where Kobra was, sitting on a block of concrete and staring at Jet and Ghoul. “You know Fun Ghoul’s name- any pronouns. And that’s Jet Star, he/him.”

“If we’re done here, I’m gettin’ back to fixin’ what the Dracs ruined. You comin’, kid?”

The Girl looked between Talon and Party. “Can I- can I talk to these guys some more? They helped me a lot.”

“Sure thing. Just stay in this area.” Talon turned around and looked back to where they were hiding. “On second thought, the others are gonna wanna see you, Girlie.”

“Can they come out here?”

Talon shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Hey y’all! Everything’s safe out here!” At the sound of their call, more people came out from behind the broken building- about fifteen. They stared at Party and the others. When suddenly-

“It’s The Girl!” A killjoy with short black-and-blonde hair stumbled into a run. The Girl turned around and ran into the crowd, followed slowly by Talon. Party watched the community gather around her, smiling and sobbing and holding her close. There were a few other kids that tackled her and shoved her around playfully.

Party walked back to their crew and sat next to Kobra. Jet and Ghoul were sitting on the ground a few feet away- Ghoul still looked like he was about to cry. Party looked at Kobra, brows furrowed- _He’s still like this?_ Kobra nodded.

“Stop psychic-talking about me over there,” Ghoul said. He’d definitely been crying while Party was talking to the Girl.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Jet offered. His face didn’t change when Ghoul glared at him again.

“You obviously did when you were yelling, yelling, yelling,” Kobra said.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jet spat.

“So-much, my dude. Fuckin’ bite me.”

“Please just shut the hell up, all of you,” Party sighed. “The Girl started crying again. We made her cry.” They shook their hands out. “But she’s okay now! That whole group fuckin’ loves her. She’s gonna be fine.”

“Yeah, until she leaves the community and dies in a firefight,” Ghoul said, halfway under his breath.

“Okay, not called for.” Party scooted off of the concrete and sat in front of Ghoul. “I’m with Jet now; can we _please_ talk about this?”

“It was only a month after my crew split that I met Jet. It was that firefight that gave me this,” He pushed his bangs off the right side of his face, revealing the mesh of scars covering his eye and cheek. “I was barely twelve. It killed Foxglove and Solar Flare- they were thirteen and fourteen. We were a _mess_ after it, and we fell apart.” Ghoul paused, leaning back on his hands. “And then, _apparently,”_ he spat, “Joyride and Crow adopted a fuckin’ kid and _died_ in the span of two and a half years. That girl’s definitely adopted, by the way. They both had green eyes and hers are brown.” He fell onto his back with a huff. No one wanted to say anything, in case he kept talking. Fun Ghoul was notoriously cagey about his past; this was the most Party had heard at once about his life before they met.

“They must have reunited and made a new community. This place is too similar to where we grew up. The Girl acts just like me and the others when we were little. They must’a got back together and figured I’d be fine on my own. Which is my fault; I was the first to drift off before we officially parted ways. But like, fuck, y’know? Did they even try to find me?” He threw an arm over his face. At this point, Party wasn’t sure if it was because of the sun or if he was hiding more tears.

Party leaned over carefully “You know, you could probably talk to The Girl about it. She seemed interested in talking to all of us more.”

“That’s just ‘cause we’re famous,” Ghoul mumbled.

“Dude, not to talk about this like I know everything ‘bout it, but Joyride sent her to _you._ She remembered you, and trusted her kid with you. That has to mean something, right? Maybe The Girl heard stories about you!”

That seemed to grab Ghoul’s attention. “Maybe.”

“You’re just in time,” Jet said quietly, gesturing behind Party. They turned around to see The Girl, about ten feet away, fidgeting with a thick beaded necklace that they hadn’t noticed before. _Did someone give that to her?_

“Hey, Girl,” Party said, waving her over. Ghoul sat up, staring at The Girl, who was nervously inching closer under his gaze. “For Destroya’s sake, Ghoul, quit giving her the evil eye.” Party turned himself to face The Girl properly. “How was your reunion?”

“Good,” she said, still hesitant, but less scared-looking. “Um, Fun Ghoul? There's someone here that used to be in Mom’s crew. Do you wanna… say hi?”

Ghoul narrowed his eyes, but Party recognized it as the I'm-acting-detached-to-hide-my-excitement eye-narrow. “What’s their name?”

“I only know her as Redwood, but-”

Ghoul shoved himself up to his feet, swaying dangerously. Jet and Party went to support him, but he held his arms out to balance himself and took a step forward. “That’s her full name. Take me to her.”

“Can we come?” Kobra asked, still sitting on his concrete.

“Sure, whatever.” Ghoul took The Girl’s hand absent-mindlely and let her lead the rest of them towards the crowd. Party kept their head down, following close behind Ghoul. Normally they’d be happy to say hi to anyone they were passing, but considering Ghoul’s fragile state, they wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Kobra seemed to pick up on this, and grabbed Jet’s hand to keep him on track.

The Girl led the four of them into the building the community had been hiding inside. Party had to blink to adjust to the lower light, and suddenly bumped into Ghoul. Kobra grabbed their jacket and pulled them back.

“Dude-” Party’s eyes finally adjusted. Sitting against the wall was a heavy-set woman with cropped brown hair. She was wearing a red vest over a white t-shirt and black jeans. Ghoul was frozen, still holding The Girl’s hand. The woman stared at Ghoul for a moment before lurching forward and pushing herself to her feet. She opened and closed her mouth for a few moments before finally finding her words.

_“Fun Ghoul?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY IF ANYONE ACTUALLY LIKE. READS THIS AND CARES ABOUT IT LMAO  
> this story is nowhere near done but i rly wanna have it somewhere public!!!!! i have _ideas!!!!!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> none of this is properly proofread i apologize
> 
> edit 1/18/21: fixed fun ghouls age. smh

Ghoul seemed to find himself again. He threw himself at the woman with a breathless _“Redwood-”_ and pressed his face into her chest, trembling. Redwood wrapped her arms around him with a laugh of disbelief and swung him side to side, causing muffled giggles from Ghoul. Party looked at Kobra and Jet, who were wearing similar looks of shock. The Fun Ghoul they all knew wouldn’t hesitate to attack anyone who tried to pick him up or even remotely treat him like a child. He was too mature for a 13-year-old, but he prided himself in his independence.

When Redwood finally put Ghoul down and gripped his shoulders, his hair was a mess and his clothes had ridden up. He brought his hands up to Redwood’s face, rubbing the sides of her head.

“Your hair is short!”

“Well, you sure didn’t get taller,” Redwood laughed. Her voice was slightly high-pitched and surprisingly bubbly.

“That’s a lie! I grew two inches!” Ghoul turned around and grabbed Kobra’s hand, pulling him to stand next to him. “I’m 5’3” now.”

Kobra cringed at the sudden attention and threw a pained glance at Party, not looking at Ghoul as he spoke. “Wouldn’t Party’ve been a better comparison?”

Fun Ghoul’s only response was a “No.” before letting go of Kobra to flap his hands excitedly. “This is Kobra Kid! And Party Poison and Jet Star! They’re my crew.”

Redwood huffed with a good-natured smile. “I know who y’all are. You’ve made quite the name for yourself, huh Ghoul?”

“Fabulous Killjoys,” Kobra mumbled, shaking his hair out and tugging his sleeves back into place. Party fixed the collar on their brother’s jacket. They caught The Girl watching the two of them out of the corner of their eye and smiled down at her.

Ghoul was unbothered by Kobra’s lack of enthusiasm. “Fabulous Killjoys!”

“Fabulous Killjoys!” Jet parroted. He brought his hands to his chest and stared at them nervously when everyone looked at him. The Girl giggled and trotted over to Jet, bumping into his legs and mumbling something to him. Redwood and Ghoul were talking back and forth, Ghoul leaning into his old friend while the other killjoy looked on the verge of happy tears. Kobra was watching The Girl and Jet, a nervous glitter in his eyes Party hadn’t seen in a while. They brushed hands with Kobra, giving him a quizzical look when he responded.

“You okay?” They said softly.

Kobra nodded, but the look didn’t leave his eyes. “New people.”

Party immediately kicked themself for not realizing how stressful this must be for Kobra. _Bad sibling. Bad._ “Do you wanna go outside? Or, fuck- there’s even more people out there.”

“We can move out,” Redwood raised her voice slightly to get Party and Kobra’s attention. “I should help the others clean up; I’ve spent enough time in here.” She pushed off of the wooden beam she’d been leaning against, and Ghoul glanced down at her legs. Party watched her shift her weight carefully before taking a heavy step. She smirked at Party, saying, “My hips ain’t good, but I can walk just fine.” She didn’t say anything about Ghoul’s nervous flitting around her. Redwood nodded to Jet as he passed him. Jet looked between Redwood and Kobra wringing his hands, and trailed behind with The Girl.

Kobra let out a long sigh and walked to the same wooden beam Redwood had leaned on and bumped his head against it with a dull groan. Party slid down and sat at the base, patting the ground next to them. Kobra plopped down unceremoniously, gently bumping his head on the beam again and again.

“This sucks. This sucks, this sucks, this sucks.” He let his head lol to the side as he turned to Party. “Am I being annoying? They didn’t have to all leave like that.” He didn’t wait for an answer, muttering “Like that” over and over under his breath.

“I doubt anyone’s holding it against you; Redwood seems chill.” Party ignored Kobra’s sceptical grumbling in favor of tapping their fingers on their thigh. “Seriously; she and the community have more to worry about than Kobra Kid’s weird brain functions. You’re fine. _We’re_ fine.” They threaded their fingers through the dry bleached parts of Kobra’s hair, smiling when he leaned into the touch.

“I hate meeting new people,” Kobra said, as if it wasn’t one of his defining characteristics. “I don’t trust anyone.”

“That’s fine. You don’t _have_ to meet anyone new. You’ve got three layers of authentication before you need to so much as _look_ at someone, okay? Anyone who doesn’t like it can fuck off.” Party would form a fucking Secret Service for Kobra if it meant he felt more comfortable outside the Diner. “Do you wanna hang near the doorway and watch?”

Kobra nodded, and Party scooted out to pull him up with them. They couldn’t help bouncing idly on their feet as they stood in the doorway. Getting a good view of their surroundings always made Party feel better, and they could confirm or deny anything Kobra thought might be a hallucination. It was like their first few weeks out of the City, but with less withdrawals and struggle to survive.

Jet was chatting with two people, a tall ginger wearing a long cardigan, and a blonde in green camo. He was twisting and untwisting a strand of his hair around his finger, so he was happy. The Girl was sitting facing the two other kids that had greeted her earlier. Party found Ghoul on the other end of the town, pushing a broken wooden beam over his head while Redwood collected things from the ground in a plastic tub held against her hip. Kobra’s eyes flicked over the scenes of people talking and working, and his fingers slowly uncurled. The crescent-shaped dents in his palms weren’t as deep as they could have been, so Party considered it a win.

“I don’t hate anyone,” Kobra said suddenly. Party let the statement hang in the air, unsure of how to respond. “I just, I just, don’t care? I just don’t care. Can’t make myself care, so things get annoying fast. I just don’t care about anyone.” He was looking down at his boots. “Except you.”

One of the kids sitting with The Girl cackled sharply, making Party flinch. Kobra looked across at The Girl, expression unreadable. Ghoul and Redwood were working on a closer building now.

Kobra sighed. “Sometimes it feels like it’s still just us. Sometimes it feels like it’s still just us. Us against the fucking world. It’s not poetic, it’s just tiring.”

As their brother talked, Party kept watching their crew and the other killjoys. Jet reached a cautious hand out to touch a bracelet on the ginger’s arm. The black-and-blonde haired person who’d first ran out of the crowd was saying something to Talon, looking upset. Ghoul tripped over his own feet and barely caught himself. He was laughing.

“I don’t like being scared of everyone. Everyone’s so scary. I don’t trust anyone. I don’t like being scared of everyone. I don’t trust anyone. Do you think the pills did this? Don’t answer that. I’ve always been fuckin’ like this. I don’t like being scared of everyone. Do you think- don’t answer that-”

Party grabbed Kobra’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze. He took a breath and squeezed back.

Talon glanced over at Party and Kobra, but was smart enough to look away and walk somewhere else. The Girl had gotten into a playfight with one of the other kids, and Jet was cheering her on. The blonde he’d been talking to was talking quickly, bouncing from one foot to the other. Ghoul briefly appeared behind another building, arms full of large rolled-up papers. Killjoys throughout the town continued to clean, leaving two collapsed buildings untouched. Party elected to ignore that detail for their own ability to sleep at night. Kobra hadn’t spoken since they’d grabbed his hand. They were still holding it; both of them were sweating uncomfortably.

Neither of them let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: this fic is about the four meeting the girl  
> also me: heres some schizophrenic kobra for you
> 
> i apologize for the possibility of kobras dialogue being hard to read in all of my kj fics. i feel a little bad bc i hate repetition but like. disorganized speech aint convenient lmao.  
> personally i only experience echolalia/the one where you repeat your own words but i use that as inspiration for his repetition. i also have a tendency to use poem-like repetition in my writing so it works out but damn it stresses me out to read sometimes
> 
> the people jet talks two are literally. killjoy versions of my warriors ocs. i turned featherleg and lightningheart into killjoys along with the rest of their friends. their names are Featherhead and Lightning Heart in this universe, feather and lightning/light. i have an entire warriors oc universe that i could theoretically make into background killjoy ocs...
> 
> ALSO man i get so weird abt writing party n kobra being close like this. i love physical affection n im a Sibling so i write any and all sibling characters as best fuckin friends (adri if ur reading this i lobve u.........) and i write friend svery affectionate. the result is paranoia of What If Someone Thinks This Is Romantic. i assure u it is not i just dont understand the difference between platonic and romantic attraction (nuerodivergent brain go brrr)
> 
> anywayz see u next time


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